ROCKINGHAM – Good Morning Sandhills, the flagship morning program owned and produced by The Richmond Observer, will debut on Monday, Jan. 22, 2018.
The show will be co-hosted by Lance Jenkins, co-founder of The Richmond Observer, and Sierra McQueen, a radio morning show veteran who most recently co-hosted a radio morning show in Charleston, South Carolina.
McQueen is a native of Richmond County and has worked with all three major radio stations in Richmond County, including G104FM, WAYN, and WLWL. She recently noted that she is excited to be back on the air as a morning show host, particularly in her hometown.
“Radio has been a huge part of my life since I was 16-years-old, and I am excited to bring that love of broadcasting back home to Richmond County where it all began,” McQueen said.
Good Morning Sandhills will air every morning Monday through Friday from 6 to 8 a.m., and will feature the opportunity for residents and listeners of Richmond County and the greater Sandhills region to call in live on the program and announce local events, birthdays, anniversaries, and also opinions on what is being talked about that day.
Jenkins, who currently serves as the nightly news anchor on The Richmond Observer’s flagship nightly news program LIVE AT 5, is eager to be a part of an “unscripted, off-the-cuff” live program.
“I love delivering the news each night to Richmond County on LIVE AT 5, but there is something special about a show where the atmosphere is informal, the talk is unscripted, and anything goes,” Jenkins noted. “We expect everyone to have fun and be respectable, but you can call in live on Good Morning Sandhillds and tell us what your thoughts are freely. I think that is going to be the most special part of this program.”
Jenkins noted that with the “live call-in” feature comes excitement and an opportunity for the community to become more connected.
“We are asking the community, particularly churches, non-profits, municipalities, and other similar organizations to feel free to call in and let the entire Richmond County and Sandhills community know what is going on,” Jenkins said. “It’s a unique opportunity for everyone to get involved in the conversations that matter to the people in this area.”
As of today, the show will be available live each morning on the free-to-download Richmond Observer app for Apple and Android devices, YouTube LIVE, Facebook LIVE, the TuneIn radio app for Apple and Android devices, and richmondobserver.com.
Jenkins did note, however, that The Richmond Observer and its parent company are working with a local radio station in Richmond County to air the program as a simulcast, but has yet to release information on the start date of the simulcast.
“Airing the show live on a traditional medium brings in a whole new market of listeners,” Jenkins said. “It’s easy to connect your phone to your car stereo or home speakers via Bluetooth, but there are some listeners that are not using that technology yet.
“The traditional radio station we are working with will likely bring a whole new audience to the show, and we could not be more excited to hopefully strike a deal in the very near future,” he added.
Jenkins said the show will be tailored to an audience in the greater Sandhills region, including Richmond, Moore, Scotland, Anson, and Montgomery counties. Listeners can tune in from anywhere in the world, though, as the content will be available to listen to and watch globally.
Like all of The Richmond Observer’s content, Good Morning Sandhills will be free to listen to and enjoy. The phone number for live call-ins will be announced in the coming weeks along with special guests slated for the premiere episode.
The Richmond Observer, which released its first edition on July 1, 2017, is now read by nearly 6,000 unique readers each day. LIVE AT 5 is watched across all mediums by over 2,000 viewers per day, and The Richmond Observer app has been downloaded on nearly 12,000 phones and tablets in the Sandhills region.
